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Sleeping Back Pain
Sleeping Back Pain Causes and SolutionsSleeping is a time to rest from a long day which may have been spent in pain. Some back pain is actually worsened when lying down or sleeping. There can be several causes for this to occur:* Physical condition. The patients particular pain problem is aggravated by the sleep position. Try sleeping in different positions and see if any help or aggravate the pain. Most back pain sufferers find that sleeping in the fetal position is preferred. Fetal position means sleeping on one’s side with the legs bent and a pillow between the knees. Some patients find relief sleeping on their back, with a pillow under their ankles. Sleeping on one’s stomach often irritates many back problems. * Sleep surface. The bed might be the cause of the problem. Many patients with a spinal problem require a firm sleeping surface. Many patients with fibromyalgia back pain require a surface that is soft to the touch. Some patients prefer to sleep in in inclined position. An adjustable bed is a possible solution for these patients. I would recommend a firm supportive mattress with a memory foam topper for softness. This way, you experience the best of both worlds…support and softness.
* Psychological back pain is a major cause of nightmarish discomfort. When you sleep, the subconscious mind is in COMPLETE CONTROL over your body. The conscious mind is resting, but the subconscious is functioning. Dreams are the result of subconscious processes and so is psychological back pain. People who experience chronic treatment resistant back pain are prime candidates for knowledge therapy. Recommendation for Sleeping Back PainA few months back, I interviewed 2 patients who have chronic sleeping back pain. Both are functional during the day and both report that activity actually makes their back feel better. These patients also report that periods of inactivity make them feel stiff and they are often awakened at night with acute back spasms. This is a tough situation…Avoiding a painful activity is a common conservative treatment for back pain. However, how can you avoid sleep???!!!One patient was very interested in the idea that his pain might be psychosomatic. The more he spoke about his life and his feelings, the more I suspected a psychological cause for his pain. This patient has (not had) 3 herniated discs, 2 in the lower back, 1 in the neck. He investigated some books as part of a knowledge therapy program and was completely pain free in under 1 month. It was REMARKABLE!!! The second patient believes that a herniated disc receives pressure when he sleeps. This patient also believes in MIND/BODY medicine, but not in the case of his personal back pain. “I AM REALLY HURT…” Hmmm…I do hear that a lot. (As if the rest of us are just making it up…) Unfortunately for this patient, 19 months have gone by since interviewing him and he is still in pain. He is now using prescription sleep aids just to sleep AT ALL. The last time I spoke to him, he had just received a new MRI result that showed his disc herniation had shrunken considerably, yet his pain had worsened… It is a sad case. The bottom line…If a physical condition is causing pain based on position, do everything possible to work around it. I am sure that there is a solution for you, with all the back pain products available. If the pain seems to come on DURING sleep, my recommendation is to seek out some knowledge therapy, since it is possible that you suffer from psychological back pain.
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